MUST READ- For companies, it can be hard to think long term

MUST READ- For companies, it can be hard to think long term: Business leaders want to run with strategies that take years to pay off, but equity investors don’t always react kindly, the Wall Street Journal writes. Witness the furor over Apple’s recent decision to stop releasing quarterly sales figures for everything from iPhones to Macs. “The debate is a key concern for chief executives trying to justify major capital investments that can take years to pay off. Long-range strategies can be hard to pull off in an era when Wall Street is fixated on three-month reporting periods,” the WSJ writes.

The bottom line: Almost no CEO is thinking more than 2 years down the road, according to a McKinsey survey the journal quotes.

Need some inspiration on the whys and how-tos of thinking long term about the business you lead? We’ve got your back:

• The McKinsey Podcast’s episode on Leading for the long term is worth a listen, and if reading is more your thing, that link also includes a full transcript of the episode (runtime: 32:41).
• BlackRock boss Larry Fink wants CEOs everywhere to think more long-term about how they’re growing and running their businesses. Business Insider ran a full copy of his 2016 letter to CEOs across the US and Europe.
• The Harvard Business Review wrote in September on “Why CEOs should share their long-term plans with investors.” (Our only quibble: This assumes they’ve had the time to create something long-term…)
• There are plenty of tools, tips and ideas in this slide deck from CECP titled Long-Term Plans: CEO Presentation Toolkit (pdf) that incorporates a bunch of ESG principles to boot.

PSA- There’s a strong possibility of light to moderate reaching Cairo this afternoon as Alexandria and our northern coastlines receive heavy rainfall today and tomorrow. Rain could last well into the evening in the capital city, according to our favorite weather app.